Modern aircraft engine flight deck displays typically include computer-driven display screens dedicated to presenting engine status information. These display screens typically present to the pilots engine data indicating the values of a variety of engine operating parameters. For example, the display screens can present a primary engine display 111 (shown in FIG. 1A) and a secondary engine display 112 (shown in FIG. 1B). The primary engine display 111 can present top-level engine parameter data, such as exhaust pressure ratio (EPR) at an EPR display 113a, low pressure compressor shaft rotation speed (N1) at an N1 display 113b, and exhaust gas temperature (EGT) at an EGT display 113c. The primary engine display 111 can include multiple sets of displays 113a–c (two are shown in FIG. 1A), one set for each engine of the aircraft.
The secondary engine display 112 can include information corresponding to other engine operating parameters. For example, the secondary engine display 112 shown in FIG. 1B can include intermediate compressor shaft rotation speed (N2) at an N2 display 113d, high pressure compressor shaft rotation speed (N3) at an N3 display 113d, fuel flow at a fuel flow display 113f, oil pressure at an oil pressure display 113g, oil temperature at an oil temperature display 113h, oil quantity at an oil quantity display 113i, and engine vibration at an engine vibration display 113j. 
One characteristic associated with the foregoing approaches for displaying engine data is that the pilot or other crew member operating the aircraft must be able to quickly view the data, integrate and interpret the data, and determine whether the data warrant an action on the part of the crew. If an action is required, in many cases, the pilot must determine what the action is. One drawback with this approach is that it can be time-consuming and costly to train pilots to quickly and efficiently carry out the foregoing steps.
One approach to addressing the foregoing problem is to display engine thrust, as well as other engine operating parameters, in a color coded manner that indicates when the thrust or other parameters exceed predetermined limits. One such method is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,050,081 to Abbott et al. However, this approach may also suffer from some of the foregoing drawbacks, namely, that presenting pilots with a plurality of parameter information still requires them to integrate and interpret the information. Also it may still be time-consuming to train pilots to understand the information presented to them, and it may take time to train the pilots to understand what action is required based on the data they see.